Russia refutes fights between Syrian government and opposition

Russian Defense Ministry in a statement released on Saturday announced “Syrian government units came under gunfire near the village of Zellakiyat'.

'By the end of the first day after the memorandum of understanding on establishing de-escalation zones came into force, all the warring sides are assessing the situation as stable,' TASS News Agency said.

“On May 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to set up four de-escalation zones in Syria. Under a memorandum signed at the talks in Astana, the four zones are Idlib province and some parts of neighboring provinces (Aleppo, Latakia and Hama), an area north of Homs, Damascus’s suburb Eastern Ghouta, and a number of provinces in southern Syria - Dara'a and Quneitra.”

“In those areas, combat operations, including flights by military aircraft, are banned as of May 6. The memorandum was concluded for six months with chances of automatic prolongation for another six months. Russia’s Defense Ministry said earlier that the fight against the ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups would be continued inside and around those zones.”

The two-day intra-Syrian talks with delegations from Iran, Russia, and Turkey present in the discussions as guarantors of the talks were held on May 3-4 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

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